My Uncle.

My Uncle Jim died last Friday.

I can't believe it's been a week...

My Aunt Miriam (my mom's sister) met my Uncle Jim while enrolled at Biola University. They were both ordained ministers and worked with a lot of youth programs and ministry. Their eldest daughter, Emily, has always been somewhat like a third sister to my sister and I, and my entire extended family has always been very close.

A few years ago(I think my freshman year of high school?) their family moved back out to California, and my uncle was appointed as the chair of the Bible department at Biola University.

Not-quite-a-year-ago, my uncle was on a walk with my aunt, and he fell. He was then diagnosed with 3 incurable brain tumors.

Some days, he would seem to be doing well. Other days, he would be leaning and just seem to be out of it. However, the tumors stopped growing. He wasn't quite as lively as he used to be, but he was still there. Making jokes, loving his family, and glorifying God. And things started to feel more normal again.

Then he began falling and getting stuck. He needed help to stand and walk and couldn't sit up straight. He was then diagnosed with Parkinson's, on top of the Cancer. After receiving medication, he started to do much better. For about a week.

Then one night, he had a series of seizures and was rushed to the hospital. When he got out, he was confined to bed. He had difficulty talking, but still would put forth the effort to say "bye" when his kids left for school in the morning. His eyes communicated a lot, and he was still giving a thumbs-up and smiling the day before.

On Friday morning, he wasn't doing well, and my aunt got an oxygen tank from the hospital. My mom called me in class, and then texted me, telling me it was urgent that I call her back, at which point she filled me in. As soon as I got out of class, I drove over to my cousin's house, where I found relatives from the other side of their family and my cousin, Emily, sitting on the couch. I went on a few errands with her, and then we returned, going into the other room and turning on Toy Story. Some of their friends came over and led a time of prayer around my uncle, and then proceeded to sing some of his favorite hymns.

I sat with Emily while she laid on my lap and we cried together. One of Clayton's (Clayton is my other cousin, Emily's younger brother) friends came over and talked to Clay and sat with him. Around 7pm, my Aunt Miriam noticed that my uncle's eyes had opened. We got Emily and Clayton into the room. They held his hand, talked to him, kissed him and stayed by his side. He slowly closed his eyes again and just began to breathe easier and quieter until it stopped.

I'm really just giving you all background so that my future posts will have a bit more context and not seem so out of the blue.

If you want to read my Aunt Miriam's blog about my Uncle Jim for a full back story or updates, it can be found here:

http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/jimmohler

If you want to read an article Biola wrote about my Uncle, you can find some here:

http://media.biola.edu/news/pdf/MohlerPointSpring2010.pdf

and here:

http://www.biola.edu/news/articles/2010/101108_rememberingjim.cfm